Just more sour grapes and gripping from the old privileged white men who make up the IPA and bleet about it in The Catallaxy Files. I would love to see commercial television match the prestige and trust the ABC has. With more Walkley Awards for excellence in journalism than any other network - one of its children's shows winning an international Emmy Award (and being downloaded literally millions of times)- the careers of dozens of entertainers launched on ABC - the dozens of programs picked up latter by the commercial networks, or even a cursory glance at the vital role of ABC radio in the National Party's treasured 'regions' anyone gripping about the 'irrelevance' of the ABC is only demonstrating their own irrelevance.

I just finished listening to an IPA (funded by members and donors) podcast giving a caning to the ABC, with references to all the ways the rogue public broadcaster is abusing the terms of its charter.

The nicest thing about them was said by Tony Abbott (whom they have grossly misrepresented and abused). He said that ABC reporters can’t tell the difference between news and opinion. I don't agree with Abbott. They know the difference, alright.

As ABC ex-board member, Janet Albrechtsen says, the ABC snubs Australians, snubs taxpayers, and snubs the real cultural diversity of the country. They only tolerate the occasional conservative views so that they can mock them.

There is no doubt that Australians are sick of appalling programs like Q&A. In March this year, viewers were down to 213,000. In 2012, the it had an average audience of 600,000. Since then, the audience has topped a mere 300,000 only once.

Four Corners is described as nothing more than a "political gossip factory", tarnishing the careers of anyone who disagrees politically. Their horrible, sordid attack on Christian Porter is but one example. No evidence. Nothing but slime and slander, and legally ambiguous.

On the current pandemic, there has been no commentator more consistently wrong on Covid than Dr. Norman Swan, described by his ABC employer (he hasn't practised medicine for decades, and has no specialist knowledge) as an "expert". Not one of his wild predictions came true, but it was him that the ABC used to urge more lockdowns, removal of freedoms, jobs and incomes, none of which would affect taxpayer supported ABC employees.

"Norman Swan has nothing but opinions", as one commentator said.

For all but a minority of Leftist ideologues and sheep, trust in the ABC is definitely waning; and the time must come when the government has to do something about it.

Aries54,

Given your attitude to white men (not white women, I note), is it a reasonable guess that you are not a white man? No problem if you are a person of colour, of course; but it would be interesting to know if you are a self-hating anti-white racist, or just a run-of-the mill racist of a different hue to us old white blokes that you hold in contempt.

Dear ttbn,

The IPA does indeed have its fair share of privileged old white women too (Gina for example), but the men definitely outweigh the women on their sponsored blog.

And please feel free to exercise your bias and perceptions while judging me.

Anyone defending the ABC has no integrity themselves !

The ABC is certainly funded by taxpayers but the (so-called) "free-to-air" media is funded entirely by advertising.

Advertising is in turn funded via a levy on all good advertised so the fact is the rest of the media is actually funded entirely by consumers.

Not everybody is a taxpayer but we are all unavoidable consumers.

The ABC costs about $800million per year - about half of what is costs Channel 9 alone to go to air and the cost of the rest of the media is far greater than the ABC - but without the scrutiny.

Therefore, not only am I paying the wages of Leigh Sales & Co but I'm also paying the exorbitant wages of all the Bolts and Jones to tell me what a waste it is to fund the ABC yet they remain free to spew their own versions of bias and lies at will.

Hypocrisy?